The 49ers were staring at a 3-5 start at half-time of their NFC West clash with the Los Angeles Rams, trailing 14-10 with their defense struggling to contain Cooper Kupp and their offense having failed to execute in the red zone. By the end of the game, they were celebrating an emphatic and hugely important 31-14 victory over the defending Super Bowl champions.
San Francisco decimated the Rams in the second half at SoFi Stadium, completing a season sweep that moves the Niners to 3-0 in the NFC West and gives them a potentially crucial tiebreaker in tight fight for the division.
Such was the 49ers’ second-half dominance that the Rams were essentially waving the white flag with just under six minutes remaining by calling a run on third down before punting back to San Francisco.
So how exactly did the 49ers turn things around in such significant fashion? The obvious answer is the unbelievable performance by Christian McCaffrey, who followed up an encouraging debut against the Chiefs with a second act in which he racked up 149 yards and two touchdowns from scrimmage and threw for a 34-yard touchdown in an historic effort.
Though McCaffrey was clearly the catalyst, he wasn’t the sole reason why the Niners were able to take over. Here we analyze how the turnaround happened.